Amaryllis’s parents were not happy when they finally reunited with their daughter. 

“Amaryllis!” her mother, Queen Laurella, demanded through the carriage window as soon as it rolled within earshot of her daughter. “How can you simply leave for Elysara without a single word to us? And alone without any escorts on top of that! What if you ran into some ruffians or something?” She seemed to be the angrier of the two. 

Amaryllis was standing outside along with several servants to wait for the arrival of her parents’ carriage so she could greet them the instant they arrived. She was now staying at a temple-owned mansion, which the priests of the temple had graciously offered to house the royal family of Etheria in during the duration of their visit to Elysara as proof of their hospitality. Before the priests offered it to her, Amaryllis had been staying at an inn due to her efforts to stay incognito.

With an exasperated expression, Amaryllis spread her hands. “Mother, you are worrying over nothing. Elysara is the safest kingdom out of all seven kingdoms.”

Well, technically, Elysara wasn’t a kingdom because it wasn’t ruled by a king, but the name stuck because it sounded better and made all seven territories more equal in appearance. What’s more, Amaryllis wasn’t lying either. Her mother didn’t need to know that Amaryllis spent more time living in an isolated cottage then relaxing at the Temple of Elysara.

“I heard that you only arrived in Elysara a few days ago,” her father, King Consort Lionell, added as he stepped out of the carriage, his face stern.

Who ratted her out? Amaryllis felt annoyed at being called out like that.

“I was delayed because I came across an injured person along my journey.” Amaryllis admitted. “But I still arrived safe and sound, as you can see.”

As soon as her parents stepped down from the carriage, they rushed to their only child and wrapped her in a warm hug. She could feel the swirling of worry and anger in their heart giving way to joy as they beheld her again.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Amaryllis melted into their arms. “You didn’t have to come all this way to see me.” 

It had been months since she last saw them. In those months, she wrote letters whenever she could, but she was often busy treating patients.

“What brings you here?” Queen Laurella asked, the most business-minded one of the two.

“I felt like I was in need of guidance.” Amaryllis explained as servants walked around the family to take the luggages into the mansion. “I was starting to feel hopeless about this war.”

“You don’t have to continue working as a nurse in the nursing program,” her father proposed. “I’m sure there are more than enough nurses there to make up for the loss of one nurse.”

Amaryllis scowled at her father. “Do you know how vital my presence was to the nursing program? I literally reshaped the program during my time there, and it’s now more efficient than ever. The mortality rate has gone down a lot ever since I implemented cleaning policies. I can’t just leave it after all the work I put into it! What if some idiot comes along and tears down all my hard work?”

Her mother, also the one with more administrative ability, pursued her lips in displeasure. “If only you could dedicate all your efforts to the royal council instead. Maybe you could accomplish more there.”

“The royal council?” Amaryllis scoffed. “The one made of imbeciles who haven’t improved anything in decades? I might as well be conversing with a bunch of statues, Mother.”

Her father snorted, then covered it up by coughing into his hand. “She isn’t wrong.”

“At least out here, I know for a fact that I’m saving lives.”

Her mother sighed. “I still wish you didn’t have to go so far from home.”

Amaryllis smiled. She couldn’t be any more grateful to her parents for giving her the chance to take control of her own life. They were so worried when she asked to join the nursing program several years ago, but she had proven to them over and over that they didn’t make the wrong decision to let her go.

“Let’s go inside.” Amaryllis gestured to the mansion behind her. “The high priests were so kind as to host us in one of their finest mansions for our stay here. How long do we intend to stay here, by the way?”

“To be honest,” the queen started. “At first, we only intended to greet the oracle, and maybe see if she has any words of guidance for us.”

“However,” the king consort added. “Not too long ago, we received a letter from Terravale inviting every single leader in Mythina to a meeting in Elysara.”

“What?” Amaryllis was surprised to hear this. “What is this meeting about?”

Queen Laurella procured the letter from her pocket, where she had been holding onto it. She unfold the letter so she could see the contents again.

“Firstly, they announced that the news about their son’s death was a misunderstanding, and they clarified that their son is actually alive and recently returned to Terravale.”

“Tristan Ethanova is alive?” Amaryllis hoped that her glee came off as shock instead. It would look bad for her to openly celebrate her enemy's survival. “You’re talking about the Sword of Terravale, right? Not some other prince I don’t know about?”

The queen coughed. “The one and only.”

“But they couldn’t have called a meeting just to announce that.” Amaryllis pointed out.

“No,” the queen admitted. “The Northern Alliance wants to discuss how to handle the surrender of the Eastern Alliance. I believe you’ve heard of their surrender, haven’t you?”

Amaryllis nodded in affirmation, so the queen continued, “And they wished to discuss the possibility of a truce.”

A truce. Could it be possible? Could the hundred year war finally come to an end soon? Amaryllis held her breath, not daring to breathe at the incredulous news. For over a hundred years, the war had endured. Amaryllis feared that she would never see the end of the war in her lifetime either, like so many people in the past. But now, the oracle was saying otherwise.

“I don’t know if we can trust them,” the king consort protested. “What if they are doing this so they can kill us all off in a single move? It’s too suspicious. Perhaps their son is truly dead and they want to use some underhanded methods to win the war now that their biggest weapon is gone.”

The queen frowned at her husband. “But what if this is the real thing? Our daughter will no longer have to live in a time of war! Then, the nursing program will disband and she will live with us at the capital again! 

“Not to mention, the oracle will also be there. The Ethanova family had arranged things with the high priests beforehand so that everything would go as smoothly and properly as possible. Of course, there is no precedent for this, so we have to do the best we can.”

Amaryllis’s eyes darted between the two of them. “I’m also attending, right?”

Both of her parents turned back to her and spoke in unison, “No!” It was clear that both of them have spoken to each other about this before.

“Why?” she complained.

“We cannot risk endangering you in the case that it is a trap,” her father said in a stern but worried voice. “Even if we are to die in this meeting, we want to make sure that you will survive.”

“What’s the point?” Amaryllis pressed. “The oracle said that I will never become queen anyway. You already have chosen an heir back in Etheria to succeed you.”

“Oh, darling.” Her mother cupped Amaryllis’s cheeks. “We don’t want you to survive for the sake of Etheria. We want you to survive so you can live a long and happy life, even if it’s without us.”

Tears pricked at Amaryllis’s eyes at her parent’s words. They truly love her above all else.

“But my ability! I can tell if they have malicious intent or not!” Amaryllis continued to insist.

They only smiled in response. “We’ve been doing diplomacy without it all this time, so we can do it this time without it as well.”

“But this isn’t just any council meeting. This is an interrealm matter! This is more serious than anything we’ve done before!”

“Amaryllis,” the queen placed a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “I know you want to help very badly, but please stay out of it for my peace of mind, do you understand?”

Amaryllis could only nod in agreement. 

“Thank you, my daughter.” The queen kissed her on the forehead. “I hope that you can spend the best years of your life in a world without war. A world where everyone can know peace.”